c/antique-tech-support

Question about the old arcade machines at the bowling alley in Springfield

I was at the local bowling alley last night and noticed they still have a row of original 90s arcade cabinets in the back. The Daytona USA machine had a CRT monitor with that classic scanline look I haven't seen in years. It made me realize how much the feel of those old games depends on the original screen tech. Has anyone here had luck fixing a similar CRT in an arcade cab that had dim colors?

Bought a 'new old stock' floppy drive belt that was just a rubber band

Spent $25 plus shipping on a part listed as genuine for my Commodore 1541. Opened the package and it's literally a cheap rubber band that snapped in two days. Do you guys trust any of these 'NOS' sellers anymore, or is it better to just find a modern replacement part?

Just realized my old VCR wasn't broken, I was using the wrong tape type

Last week I was ready to junk a VCR I got from a garage sale in Boise, convinced the heads were shot because every tape looked terrible. My neighbor, who used to run a video store, came over, popped in a standard VHS instead of the S-VHS tape I was testing with, and the picture was perfect. Has anyone else run into compatibility issues like that with late-model VCRs?

My 10 year old nephew asked why my 'new' computer has a cup holder

I was showing him my freshly restored Windows 98 machine and he pointed at the CD-ROM tray. It took me a second to realize he'd never actually seen one used for its intended purpose. Anyone else have a moment that made you feel ancient?

My Atari 800XL decided to die right before a big demo night

I was setting up for a retro computing meet in Portland last Thursday, and the screen just went black with a loud pop. Opened it up and saw a blown capacitor near the power supply, which had leaked all over the board. Spent the next four hours trying to clean the corrosion with isopropyl alcohol and a toothbrush, but the damage was too bad. Has anyone managed to save a board after a cap leaked this badly, or is it a lost cause?

Changed my mind about recapping every single old board

I used to think you had to replace every capacitor on any vintage computer as soon as you got it, no questions asked. That changed after I spent a whole Tuesday carefully recapping a perfectly working 1987 Apple IIgs board from my collection in Seattle, only to have it fail to boot afterward. A tiny bit of solder bridged two traces and it took me hours to find it. Now I only recap if there's visible leakage or a known problem. Has anyone else had a recap job go sideways on a machine that was fine before?

Found a box of old floppy disks at the thrift store in Bellingham, and one had a complete Oregon Trail save file from 1993!

My 1998 iMac G3 in Bondi blue finally booted after I swapped the PRAM battery last Tuesday.

I'd been convinced the logic board was fried from sitting in my damp garage for a decade, but the old timer at the computer recycling place in Spokane just shrugged and said, 'Kid, it's probably just the $4 battery on the motherboard.'

My Apple IIe power supply fix turned into a two month project

Thought it was a bad capacitor, but the issue was a cracked trace under the board I only found after checking every connection twice. Anyone else have a repair that snowballed like this?

My old Amiga 500 went from a paperweight to my main machine after a simple fix

For about a year it would just show a black screen, and I was ready to give up. Then I read on a forum that a specific 47uF capacitor on the power supply board always fails. I replaced it for less than two bucks and it booted right up. Has anyone else brought an old Amiga back from the dead with a single part?

Just brought my old Atari 800XL back from the dead with a simple fix

I pulled my childhood Atari out of the attic last weekend and it was totally dead, no power light, nothing. I was ready to give up, thinking the power supply was fried. After opening it up, I found the issue in about 15 minutes. The main power switch on the board was just full of old dust and grime from sitting for probably 20 years. I didn't even need a new part. I just sprayed some contact cleaner into the switch, worked it back and forth a bunch of times, and plugged it back in. The power light came on right away and it booted to the BASIC prompt. It's crazy how a machine that seemed completely broken just needed a basic cleaning. Has anyone else had an old computer or console come back to life with something that simple?

Update: My 1987 Macintosh SE just hit 100 days of continuous runtime

I know a lot of folks say you should power down old computers to save them, but I wanted to see if my recapped SE could handle it. I booted it up on January 1st and just let it sit on the desktop. Yesterday, the system clock showed it had been on for 100 full days. The hard drive is still humming, and the CRT shows no signs of dimming. Honestly, I think these machines are tougher than we give them credit for if you've done the basic maintenance. Has anyone else pushed an old system like this for a long stretch?

Showerthought: I think people are too quick to replace old power supplies

I was in my garage last week trying to get my old Packard Bell 486 running again. The thing just wouldn't turn on, and everyone online said the power supply was a goner and to just buy a new old stock unit. I pulled it out, opened it up, and found one bulging capacitor. I replaced that single 1000uF cap for about two bucks, and the whole machine booted right up. It's been running fine for three days now. I get that PSUs can be dangerous, but a full replacement for a simple cap job feels wasteful. Has anyone else had luck with just fixing the specific part that failed?

Guy at the flea market tried to sell me a 'mint' Apple IIe with a cracked power supply board

This was last month at the swap meet in Burbank. He wanted $250 for it, said it was 'plug and play'. I opened the case right there, saw the crack near the transformer. Told him it was a fire hazard. He just shrugged and said 'adds character, man'. Walked away feeling like I dodged a bullet. Anyone know a good source for IIe power boards that won't cost more than the computer?

Warning: Don't try to fix a 1989 Mac SE logic board with a regular soldering iron

I spent all last Tuesday trying to replace a single bad capacitor, but my cheap 40-watt iron couldn't get the old solder to flow on the thick ground planes. My friend Steve walked in, saw the mess, and just said 'you're gonna lift that pad'. Has anyone actually had success with a specific low-wattage iron on these old boards?

Serious question, why does everyone say you need to replace all the capacitors on an old Apple II?

I got a perfectly working Apple II from a garage sale in Phoenix about 6 months ago. Everyone online said the first step was a 'recap' of the entire board. I opened it up, checked each one with my cheap meter, and only ONE was actually bad out of the 15 on the main board. I swapped just that single 10uF cap for a new one, and it's been running fine for 3 hours straight. I think telling people to blindly replace everything causes more damage from soldering mistakes. Has anyone else had a board where most of the old caps were actually still good?

Can we talk about the weird smell of old electronics?

I was cleaning the dust out of my 1995 Packard Bell desktop and my roommate walked in and said 'that smells like my grandpa's basement'. It's that warm plastic and ozone scent, right? What's the best way to clean old gear without making that smell worse?

I finally stopped trying to clean old cartridge slots with a paper towel

I was getting constant read errors on my NES until a friend in Austin pointed out the tiny fibers I was leaving behind. Now I use a cotton swab with a tiny bit of isopropyl alcohol and it works every time. Anyone have a better method for cleaning those 72-pin connectors?

Found a box of old floppy disks in my dad's attic and one actually worked

I was cleaning out his place in Toledo last weekend and found a whole plastic tub labeled 'computer stuff, 1992'. Inside were about 50 3.5-inch floppies. I figured they were all toast, but I dug out my old Windows 98 machine from the garage. After three tries, the drive finally read one disk. It had a bunch of text files from a college project he never told me about. The sound of that drive clicking and spinning up after all that time was wild. Has anyone else had luck recovering data from disks that old without special gear?

Finally got my old Apple IIe to boot after 17 years in a closet

Honestly, I found it at my parents' place last weekend and the power supply was totally dead. I ordered a new one for $35 and swapped it out, which was scary. When I flipped the switch and heard that beep and saw the prompt, I was so surprised. Has anyone else brought something back from the dead that you thought was a lost cause?

My uncle swore by using a hairdryer on old game cartridges, and he was totally right

I was trying to get my old Sega Genesis copy of Sonic 2 to work for like an hour, cleaning the pins with rubbing alcohol and everything. My uncle, who fixed arcade machines back in the day, told me to just take a regular hairdryer, set it on low heat, and blow it into the cartridge slot for about 30 seconds to drive out any moisture. I thought it sounded like a dumb hack that would just melt something. But after it cooled down, I popped the game in and it booted right up on the first try. It's been working fine for three weeks now. He said the old boards can get a little damp inside over the years and the heat just dries them out gently. Has anyone else had luck with this method, or did I just get lucky with my specific console?

My neighbor's kid asked me if my 'old gray box' could run Fortnite, and I had to explain what a 1998 iMac G3 is for.

Found a weird fix for my old Atari 2600's snowy picture

For weeks my Atari had this fuzzy screen, like bad static. I tried three different RF cables and cleaned the switch box with isopropyl alcohol. Nothing worked. Then I saw a forum post from 2003 where a guy said to check the channel 3/4 switch on the console itself, not just the TV. I'd been messing with the TV tuner the whole time! I flicked that little plastic switch back and forth a few times and the picture cleared right up. Has anyone else had an old console where the actual channel selector got dirty or stuck?

Found a box of old floppy disks in my grandpa's attic last weekend

I was up there looking for some tools and saw a plastic crate full of 5.25 inch disks, maybe 40 of them. My old Compaq Portable II from 1986 still works, so I tried to read one. The drive made this awful grinding noise and wouldn't spin up. I opened the drive and found the belt had turned to sticky goo, it was a total mess. Anyone know a good source for replacement belts for a Teac FD-55GFR drive, or am I better off trying to clean and salvage the old one?

My old Apple IIe just logged its 10,000th hour of runtime

I was cleaning out my basement last week and decided to fire up the old machine for fun. The monitor flickered on, and the startup screen showed a little counter I'd forgotten I programmed back in high school. It hit 10,000 hours exactly, which means it's been on for over a full year of its life. That little beige box just won't quit. Has anyone else had an old computer hit a weird milestone like that?